Poland’s Permanent Representative to the EU Andrzej Sadoś has briefed the European Commission (EC), the European Council and member states’ ambassadors to the EU on the preliminary estimated and partial costs Poland is incurring to help refugees from Ukraine. According to anonymous sources of the Polish Press Agency (PAP), costs will amount to over EUR 2.2 billion by the end of the year.
What does the help include?
PAP reported that the preliminary estimates were submitted over the weekend. They contain approximate calculations of needs, resulting from the mass influx of refugees from Ukraine to Poland (not only directly, but also via other countries). The total calculated does not include education and medical care.
Poland intends to regularly provide EU member states and the European Commission with updated data in the coming days. As Polish diplomats unofficially told PAP, the cost of the current refugee crisis will run into “many billions of euros.”
The estimates that have been provided are based on information from Polish provincial offices and other institutions.
The costs include the accommodation and basic needs of refugees (EUR 1.6 bn), preintegration activities (nearly EUR 200 mln), refugee transportation, humanitarian aid (EUR 300 mln) as well as purchasing equipment (EUR 80 mln).
#BREAKING More than 2 million Ukraine refugees in Poland: border guards.
? @lgouliam #AFP pic.twitter.com/5GeNtiISeR
— AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) March 18, 2022
The situation is dynamic
Andrzej Sadoś stressed that the situation is dynamic and analyses are currently being conducted. Warsaw is working on more concrete and detailed calculations of the various needs.
The Polish diplomat also emphasised the need for quick approval of Poland’s National Reconstruction Plan, which will also serve people fleeing war.
European Commission representatives will visit Warsaw on Tuesday to discuss available support from various instruments under the EU budget.
PAP also reported that the EC has not provided any new EU funds to countries hosting refugees from Ukraine. Although the EC has proposed to reallocate funds they have received from the 2014-2020 EU budget.
Some EU diplomats are increasingly resounding that the scale of the current crisis is so huge that the EU must prepare new financial instruments to respond to it.